


save my face

by sprinklyzucchini



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F, idk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, katoph is a cool pairing that exists btw eh, lack of tattoo procedure in detail was deliberate bc boi no
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 21:24:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12779802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sprinklyzucchini/pseuds/sprinklyzucchini
Summary: sokka inks zuko up, their months long flirtationship and other fucky awkwardness culminating into some non explicit sex and rlly sappy and unnecessarily long conversation. toph is there to briefly torture them and moon over katara. i should write more about her tbh she's my third most comfy character to write but anywayyyy that's all





	save my face

**Author's Note:**

> im s _inking_ in zukka feels and sudden productivity pls have this humble offering @any gods who wanna hmu for a quick trip to the void

The door to Jetter’s creaks and Zuko perks up, _it’s –_

Just the wind.

She blows a half-hearted raspberry, going back to browsing through her Insta feed, on what is turning out to be a most unproductive afternoon.  
To be fair, Jet did say she could leave if they didn’t have customers by lunchtime – and there wouldn’t be, since the better and fancier tattoo studio had opened up down the street or whatever – but then she also didn’t have classes until 3 today, hence the lazing away. Smellerbee, their (currently) only tattoo artist preferred not to be bothered if it wasn’t a busy day. So she was also hoping Toph would drop by, as promised a minute ago, because being lonely in your place of work isn’t very appealing.

The door creaks again, and Zuko doesn’t bother looking up from the Disney GIFs that she’s totally _not_ obsessed with ( _some_ people in her recent past have had… an influence.)

“Ow!” At least, not until an arm snags around her head. The next thing she’s blinking up at are Toph’s vacant-but-somehow-shrewd eyes.

“Oi, stop that – what’s up, princess?” A distant _thwack_ , and Zuko can breathe. That voice, though – Zuko shifts her balance on the stool to glare at Sokka. And Toph too, but Sokka _knows_ ‘princess’ is too much. Especially if – ugh, if they’re _smiling_ like that.

Sokka coughs, all the silver on their face twinkling in the harsh, barely-filtered light from the entrance; dramatically looks around at the miserably empty shop before –

“You free to help us finish this up?” Sokka looks triumphant about the comedic timing, and Zuko isn’t going to admit that it’s a good look on them. Especially since it wasn’t funny. No really.

Toph’s almost shoving a bong up her nose next, as if she knows Zuko’s distracted.

Zuko swats the hideous thing away, and decides said hideous bong is better to look at than Sokka’s eyes. They’re twinkling too.

It’s kind of distracting in a way Zuko is sure Toph notices.

-

They retreat to the spare office-turned-storage-turned-hotbox room, and Toph is going on about how much she wants to make out with Katara. Sokka cringes, because they know Toph is exaggerating to get a rise out of them.  
Zuko tunes them out (especially because she doesn’t want to keep hearing about how hot Katara looks when she’s tearing Toph’s nuisance of a coworker a new one) and focuses on inhaling the smoke gradually instead of all at once, like she tends to when distracted.

“Fine, I dare you to go ask her out then. Rest in peace,” Sokka drawls, evidently more amused than disturbed by this scenario.

Their voice is scratchier when they’re buzzed, and they wink at Zuko when passed the bong, which – yeah, there it comes, she promptly coughs a lung out.

“Yeah? Maybe you should get to confessing some stuff of your own then, huh?” Toph retaliates, grinning sharp, almost predatory. It almost takes the attention off the colour rising high on her cheeks.

It’s Sokka’s turn to turn red and glare, but they just flip Toph off and flick the lighter.

Chest still heavy with the coughing, Zuko watches as Sokka blows out a ring, imagining that mouth where it had been last week – and continues watching as Sokka passes the bong to Toph without any sort of verbal comeback, without any eye contact with Zuko.  
She pretends this does not make her chest feel heavier.

It’s already awkward when you’ve inadvertently slept with your (temporary) boss’s girlfriend/partner/special friend? after months of ‘dates’ and dancing around – but when said special friend tells you they love you after giving you what was probably the best orgasm you’ve had in ten months?   
_And_ after you fail to give a satisfactory reply because?  
Yeah, Zuko isn’t envying anyone the fact that her life has decided to play out a really shitty romedy sitcom.

It’s just – _Sokka_. That one name qualifies for way too many emotions and Zuko’s just overwhelmed.

Sokka’s pretty overwhelming, along with everything else.

Speaking of, they’ve both taken to this ‘dare each other to do potentially-humiliating, love life-related’ shit, and it has escalated to… a worrisome level.

Sokka dares Toph to send accidental semi-nudes to Katara because they’re a sadistic being who doesn’t care about traumatizing their sister or apparently, their friend’s life. Zuko groans out an exaggerated _eeewwww_ , because she did _not_ want this particular scenario in her brain, and also because yeah. Weed.

Toph glares at somewhere around Sokka’s knee, but the kick at their leg is aimed accurately.

“I dare you to tattoo princess over here. Or let her do you, whatever.”

Zuko has just taken another hit, so while she ponders over how non-intense that nickname sounds coming from someone else – she fails to register the rest of that sentence.

“Uh…”

“What?” She sits up a little, trying to catch Sokka’s gaze, but they have apparently decided Toph needs to be physically restrained for the good of the world. Toph is half-heartedly trying to pry her head out of the equally half-hearted headlock. Zuko’s confusion goes ignored.

“Did this human wonder tell you that they wanna see a tramp stamp on y-” Toph jeers from under Sokka’s arm, and said arm tightens around her, cutting the rest off. At least Zuko understands the context now, and burns red in embarrassment as she contemplates strangling Toph too.

“I’m not letting any of you handle the equipment like that,” she says after what seems like an hour, _stupidly_ , because Toph cackles and Sokka’s eyes (did they just get bluer or was that just her) widen in affront.

“Excuuuuuse me,” they start, and Zuko groans again because Sokka’s unstoppable when they’re in the mood for dramatics, “I can handle your equipment like this just _fine_!”

The last of Toph’s cackles provide the background to a truly awkward silence, as both of them register the innuendo. Zuko is prepared to forgive them this slip, because it couldn’t have been intentional – and then Sokka recovers, _fucking winks at her again, the bastard,_ and Toph snorts out a truly impressive… noise.

“Well, I’m terribly sorry to take a break from my cockblocking duties, but I got Sugar Queen waiting for me.” You’d think Toph would designate her crush a better nickname, but no. She ducks effortlessly under the arm pinning her, and stomps on Sokka’s foot, probably to stop their complaint about “oi don’t call ‘Tara that if you gunna date her” dragging on.

“I’ll leave my baby to your good care, Sparky.” Toph doesn’t bother to turn her line of sight onto Zuko, but the bong and the deliberately creepy way she keeps stroking it makes her shudder anyway.

__

“You know… if they actually get together, I might have to move to another state.” Sokka is rubbing on their nose stud in a contemplative and decidedly unattractive way, so of course Zuko’s insides have to flip at that.  
“You should come with me.”

She chokes on her (?)th hit. Predictable.

 “I’m sorry, I was kidding!” They laugh, and move to thump her back, and Zuko doesn’t exactly _mean_ to flinch, but –

“Sorry.” Sokka moves away, physically putting space between their bodies, and Zuko kind of wants to cry, because no.

They don’t stop there, though.

“Uh, about last week-” they fidget with their stud a little more before, “y’know it’s cool if you don’t – I mean if what I said makes you ‘ncomfortable then – we were both high, it’s not like ch-”

Zuko wonders when they will stop overwhelming her. She moves on an impulse, and next thing she knows Sokka’s hands are in hers and, “Okay, ink me up.”

Sokka blinks.

Reaches out for the spare box of pigments at the back, strokes over the caps.

Shrugs. Sticks their tongue out.

“Your wish is my command.”

She tries not to think about what they meant when they said they ‘were both high, so.’ She just wants Sokka to not move away from her. She means that, and doesn’t know how to tell them anyway. Hence the stupid ideas.

Like this one.

They go to the studio space, and after a brief discussion, decide on Zuko’s right upper arm. “Please don’t draw some sort of, I don’t know, Farquaad, on my skin,” she mutters, knowing Sokka would do no such thing, but attempting bad ‘meme’ humour (???) just to hear them laugh. In that way they always laugh around her.

“There’s only one Lord Farquaad _fyi_ , and your unwavering faith in my abilities is _great_.” Sokka cleans her arm, touch lingering on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing fancy but I think you’ll like it.”

__

It’s… Zuko stares in amazement at her arm, red and sore and dark with script. Sokka’s saying something about aftercare, but Zuko’s already familiar with the procedures (a tiny broadsword duo right between her shoulders) so she only half-tunes in.

“that’s rough… buddy,” and an impossibly adorable duck beneath the embarrassing ~~reminder~~ quote. She remembers going on a tirade about ducks at some point that day; can’t believe –

“I can _not_ believe you chose to brand my skin, permanently, with the singular most socially awkward interaction between us.” Zuko’s not mad, really. It had become an inside joke how endearing Sokka had found it.

“Okayyyy, I couldn’t help it! It’s so… _you_.” Sokka graces her with one of their half-smiles, lazy and crinkling one eye, gaze dreamy and analytic at the same time, and Zuko has no trouble believing they mean it.

She thinks she will invest in some tanks. Sokka always did appreciate her “exquisite muscles” (this was texted at 9 am on a Monday lecture. Imagine.)  
Tattoo’s an interesting bonus. It looks like something generic and “memeingful~” (Sokka’s a huge fan of sics) and it’s sappy how she feels all warm over only _them_ knowing the context.

Oh. She is _so gone_.

Sokka’s at the sink again, and they’re still staring at her, washing hands a final time and retying their braid. It takes fucking ages for some reason.

“I love it.” She jolts with how _close_ that sounded to – “um. Really.” Hopes her burning face will make up for any lack of eloquence. She’s not concerned with the blushing. They both know by now that she expresses better non-verbally.

“Oho? The most awkward moment?” They’re doing one of those half-smiles again, teasing but softer, and Zuko, ugh, she _loves_ them.

_Ah_. 

Sokka for once, remains silent as Zuko walks over, stumbling halfway (of course) and almost knocking her elbow against a tray. The only thing out of their mouth when she reaches up to kiss them, is a “dork” that’s more giggle than speech.

God, it felt like she’d been physically fighting whatever tension just lifted off her brain. That, or her brain melted when Sokka tugged at her lip, insistent but soft, to lick their way into her mouth and… yeah.

She thinks she went boneless at some point, because they were back in the hotbox room. She thinks she will die now, but not in the tragic way. She rakes her fingers down Sokka’s stomach, feels it contract and jerk, her thigh pushing against their hip to urge them closer.  
Sokka flings out a hand to grab her shoulder, and changes last-second to the shelf when it turns out to be her sore one.

She is slowly sobering up from the pot, but the lingering high definitely makes it…

They probably come embarrassingly quick, fumbling to get angles and avoid hurting the tatted shoulder – lost in a mess of moans, laughter and really sweaty skin. And so much _kissing._ Sokka rides out the aftershocks on her fingers, still kissing her – they taste like her, it’s – it’s the most they’ve kissed, okay, Zuko can’t handle how _good_ it is.

__

“Is Jet gonna be okay with this? My feelings for you… and all?” She asks when they’re kind of slumped against each other, not willing to move. She has a very serious foot-in-mouth disease, because that came out of nowhere. She is now apprehensive/confused/curious, though – Sokka and Jet were never clear on _what_ they exactly were, or wanted to be.

She wonders if they ever lay (or uh… half-stood in a way that was sure to get cramps in your legs) like that, content and in love with everything. It’s not as off-putting as she thought it’d be – definitely off-putting considering the situation, however. Cringe.

Sokka just grumbles though, “nnegrg, don’t mention boytoy with your fingers still up my cunt,” and at Zuko’s shocked noise – “oh my god I was kidding about the boytoy thing - he’s chill, really.”

Zuko pulls out her fingers and they both grimace, and then laugh at the noise.

Sokka sobers up, gaze intense again. “You’re not seriously telling me you’ve been worried about Jet, right? Because he’s my friend, and you know I have some shenanigans-” they waggle their eyebrows for emphasis – “or the other going on with… almost all of them.”  
Zuko knows. Sometimes in unnecessary detail.

“Well he’s my boss even if it's just a favour… and I’ve never been around people so open. And you.”

“Hm. ‘And’ me?”

“You’re a different species.”

Sokka laughs again, and Zuko smiles, in love with making them laugh like that. To reiterate – she’s so gone.

“I’ll take that, but having lots of partners isn’t the alien thing about me, I hope.”

As if.

“No, it’s not.” Zuko leaves the rest of the explanation unsaid – because knowing their tendencies, they will get into an actual discussion about aliens – and kisses them.

After minutes or possibly a very warm day, Sokka pulls back. “We really gotta. Clean up though.” They look pointedly at Zuko’s shoulder. It’s absolutely fine and untouchable in its meticulous wrapping, but she knows they get paranoid.

“What? Like you’ve never fucked after getting inked before?” She deliberately drops her voice lower, knowing that – ah, yes. The blue of their eyes is reduced to a ring as their pupils blow out. What? She can be manipulative. Slightly.

“Well, you’re wrong...” Sokka noses at her throat, and bites gently at the marks they’ve left there. “You’re lucky you’re cute, you little shit.”

She is, she thinks, smirking and kissing away Sokka’s fake pout.

She wouldn’t mind moving a state away with Sokka, especially when Toph finds out that her dare was essentially a catalyst for this.


End file.
